These are exciting times for South Africa's young democracy. Over the past few months, we've seen the splintering of the ANC, the emergence of COPE and now the DA's attempt to reposition themselves as a party of real relevance in South Africa.
The DA's relaunch is a change for which the time has come.
Previously, the policies of the DA might have appealed to me, but, as a white South African who is more interested in this country's future than with its past, I couldn't bring myself to vote for a party that I perceived to cater mainly to the interests of whites, to the elite and/or to the minority. I couldn't support a party that only ever seemed to object to whatever the ruling party said or did, without ever giving them any credit when it was due. I battled to take them seriously and found them to be political opportunists, taking potshots at the ANC whenever possible, merging with the New National Party (remember them?) in 2000 and forming a coalition with six smaller parties when they failed to win an outright majority in Cape Town's local government elections in 2006. I got bored of their negativity and stopped hearing their complaints.
More recently, however, my perceptions have been changing. I have found Helen Zille to be an excellent leader, a passionate South African with vision in her soul and fire in her belly. When she speaks, I no longer hear 'we would do better if we were in power', I hear constructive contributions to the debate. When she speaks, I hear sincerity. When she speaks, I can hear the DA again.
I have no doubt that she is the major influence in the DA's broadening appeal.
In her address at the relaunch on Saturday, Zille announced that the DA's transformation into a 'government party' would be a shift from the opposition party role the DA has played for so many years.
"We will always provide the critical oversight and policy alternatives that everyone expects of us," said Zille. "But from now on, the DA no longer offers opposition and nothing else."
Whether they are able to achieve their lofty goals and be taken seriously as a major political player, if not the major political player, will depend on whether the DA can change the electorate's perception of the DA as the party of the elite few.
Dr. John Akokpari, a senior lecturer in the Political Studies Department at UCT, thinks that despite the positive sentiment around the relaunching of the party, it is going to be tough for the DA to change their image.
"The public perception of the DA is that they are not a party for poor people, and this stigma is widespread amongst poor blacks, and the relaunch of the DA won't change this."
When asked about the affiliations between the DA and the Congress of the People and how this will affect their popularity, Dr. Akokpari thought that, if anything, it may injure the DA come voting day.
"Without any opinion polls I cannot be sure, but I feel that the DA may lose many black voters who were dissatisfied with the ANC, and took refuge in the DA, now these voters may move to COPE."
Dr. Akokpari did however think that the DA's ambitions for a strong influence in major cities by 2011 and the national government by 2014 were well-founded, but slightly unrealistic. "We saw the truth in Cape Town; frustration towards the ANC saw the DA take the city from them. This may continue, and the DA is likely to control more seats at city level, due to the arrogance of the ANC. Their aims are unrealistic, but we cannot brush them off."
Until very recently, I was clueless about who I was going to vote for next year. I didn't want to vote for the ANC as they were already too powerful and I firmly believe that absolute power corrupts absolutely. I wasn't inspired by the DA for the reasons that I outlined previously and the Independent Democrats, for me, have been a disappointment and have had little impact on the local political sphere.
Now, I feel spoilt for choice and I'm unsure who I am to vote for, for all the right reasons: the main parties - the ANC, COPE, the DA - are equally compelling and are in with a shout. This election will be about policies and the future and not about allegiances of the past.
Of course, we all want to see action and not just wonderful words and policies. We want the parties to be the change they say they are going to be. That it is no longer a one horse race could see us enter an era of political accountability, humility and real alternatives.
The next few months are going to be very interesting indeed. My vote is up for grabs as, I am sure, are millions of others. Let the games begin... and may the best party win!
By Ian Macdonald
Research by Matthew Choate
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